Software Engineering Intern

About Abley

We’re a specialist New Zealand-owned transport solutions consultancy supplying professional services and products to central and local government and businesses. We work with organisations in New Zealand, Australia, Southeast Asia, USA, and Canada.

Our digital and technology specialists help organisations gain insights from their data, improve efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and make smart decisions. Our transport team delivers strategies and infrastructure that support safer travel, improved access and mobility to enhance environmental, economic and community wellbeing. Our open-source, cloud-based platform is used across both our consulting and product work, and it's growing fast.

About the project

Our Road Safety Investment Model (RSIM) helps transport authorities decide where to spend limited funding to prevent the most deaths and serious injuries. It works well today, but it runs in Power BI. We're re-engineering it into a fast, flexible, production-grade part of our cloud-native platform.

This is real R&D, and we don't yet know the best answer. You'll help us investigate, prototype and evaluate different approaches to:

Speed – making scenario modelling and optimisation run faster and more responsively.

Flexibility – letting users define their own treatment types.

Spatial output – automatically producing optimised investment programmes as spatial data that can be viewed in the app and exported to clients' own geospatial systems.

What you’ll be doing

• Work alongside our engineering team on calculation-engine design and runtime performance optimisation.
• Explore relational and spatial data modelling and geospatial systems.
• Help evaluate alternative solutions and feed into architecture decisions for the future RSIM platform.
• Take part in code reviews and daily collaboration with senior engineers.
• Be mentored by senior members of the team.
• Gain hands-on experience with PostgreSQL/PostGIS, .NET, TypeScript, AWS cloud services, spatial data systems, and modern software engineering practices.

About you

Qualifications – you’ll be studying at a New Zealand tertiary institution and be in the third year (or equivalent) of an engineering degree, majoring in computer, software, mechatronics, mechanical or electrical engineering. We’ll also consider another relevant qualification such as data science, or a degree that includes geospatial or road safety study.

A curious problem-solver – you’ll be comfortable with uncertainty and keen to tackle open-ended technical problems.

An effective communicator – you’ll be communicating with people in person, by email, via video conferencing and in meetings. You’ll also be prepared to challenge colleagues on technical ideas.

Eligible to work in New Zealand – you’ll be currently resident in New Zealand and legally entitled to work here.

The important bits

Location – onsite in our centrally located office in Christchurch.

Duration – full-time, fixed-term internship from November 2026 to February 2027 (400 hours total).

Pay – $29.90 per hour, plus holiday pay.

How to apply

Please submit your application online, including a cover letter explaining why this project interests you, your CV and your most recent academic transcript.

If you would like more information about this role, please contact [email protected].

Applications close Tuesday 20 October 2026.